HIGH-RESOLUTION PROJECTILE VELOCITY AND ACCELERATION MEASUREMENT USING PHOTONIC DOPPLER VELOCIMETRY

This paper describes the new photonic Doppler velocimetry (PDV) technique for measuring time-resolved projectile velocity and acceleration profiles for full flight of the launch package in a two-stage light-gas gun (LGG). This technique is shown to provide excellent temporal and spatial resolution in measurement. Two non-linear acceleration stages were observed for the first time on the LGG. When the gun bore was at atmospheric pressure, a strong opacity was observed during hypervelocity projectile motion > 2200 km/s.